1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to pressure support systems, and, more particularly, to a pressure support system in which a component of the system, such as, without limitation, a patient interface device, may be wirelessly identified by the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are numerous situations where it is necessary or desirable to deliver a flow of breathing gas non-invasively to the airway of a patient, i.e., without intubating the patient or surgically inserting a tracheal tube in their esophagus. For example, it is known to ventilate a patient using a technique known as non-invasive ventilation. It is also known to deliver continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or variable airway pressure, which varies with the patient's respiratory cycle, to treat a medical disorder, such as sleep apnea syndrome, in particular, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), or congestive heart failure.
Non-invasive ventilation and pressure support therapies involve the placement of a respiratory patient interface device, including a mask component, on the face of a patient. The mask component may be, without limitation, a nasal mask that covers the patient's nose, a nasal cushion having nasal prongs that are received within the patient's nares, a nasal/oral mask that covers the nose and mouth, or full face mask that covers the patient's face. The respiratory patient interface device interfaces the ventilator or pressure support device with the airway of the patient so that a flow of breathing gas can be delivered from the pressure/flow generating device to the airway of the patient.
It is common for users of pressure support devices to have several different patient interface devices (e.g., different masks and different patient interface components), tubing options, or other component options (such as bacteria filters) that they use for reasons such as comfort. It is important for the pressure support device to know which type of patient interface device or other component is being used so that it will know certain information about the components, such as, without limitation, mask resistance, mask compliance, mask leak rates. Based on this information, the pressure support device can adjust the operating parameters of the unit. In addition, certain comfort features or device functions can be enabled on the basis of a particular mask or peripheral being attached.
Current systems allow for patient interface device detection in a number of different ways. In some systems, a user can manually key the patient interface device type into the system. Another solution that has been suggested is to identify the patient interface deice using RFID technology. This works well, but does not address the scenario where there are multiple patient interface devices in the same room. In such as case, the RFID reader would likely detect all of the patient interface devices in the room, rather than a selected one of the devices.